ALIAS writers reunite at ATX to talk red wigs and a possible reboot

At the ATX Festival in Austin this weekend, Alias writers and executive producers Josh Appelbaum, Ken Olin, Sarah Caplan, André Nemec, and Monica Owusu-Breen reunited to discuss the groundbreaking show. A number of subjects were covered, from Sydney's iconic red wig to the possibility of a reboot.

After struggling to find the right shade of red — they had three options, none of which worked — Caplan and Abrams had been scouting at UCLA and ran into a woman with what Caplan called “badly dyed hair” that was blonde on top, but red underneath. “I go to the girl, ‘Would you mind, can I take a little snippet of the bottom of your hair?'” Caplan says. “‘We’re looking for this certain color. The director thinks yours is the perfect color.’ She looks at me and she goes, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Really? Why not?’ ‘Well, I’ve grown this hair and that hair has been with me for 14 years.’ ‘I only want a few hairs. Well, we’ll pay you for the little bit of hair.’ By now she’s sitting down with her friends. She’s very smart. Finally, she agrees that we can buy a little bit of the hair. I don’t have any money on me, J.J. doesn’t have any money on him, so I wrestle $39 off various members of the crew.”

The Guest Stars...and Lena Olin

Alias was able to attract a stellar guest star cast — including Quentin Tarantino, Angela Bassett, and Faye Dunaway — thanks, in part, to J.J. Abrams. “It was who J.J. wanted to meet,” jokes Appelbaum, who says Abrams got obsessed with the British version of The Office and that’s why they wrote a part for Ricky Gervais. “Usually on TV shows, you’d say, ‘So it’s like an Angela Bassett type or a Quentin Tarantino type,’ but then it was actually them.” One star they weren’t able to get back for the final season was Lena Olin, who didn’t return in a full capacity as Sydney’s mother Irina Derevko. “She didn’t want to commit,” Caplan says. “It was very difficult to get her on the show, but once she was there, she was happy as a clam. She was really lovely to work with. It was so hard to get her each time to come. She was coming from upstate New York.”

The season finale that had to change

There was an idea for a season finale cliffhanger where Sydney, Jack, and Vaughn were mountain climbing, and Sydney would’ve had to choose between saving Jack or Vaughn’s life, but the idea leaked and they had to change it.

The reboot possibility

“It would be amazing to do it; we’ve even talked with J.J. [Abrams],” co-executive producer Josh Appelbaum said during the panel, which was moderated by EW’s Sara Vilkomerson. “The right idea would have to come. We wouldn’t want to do it unless it was absolutely perfect.”

Victor Medina is a freelance writer based in Dallas. He is the editor of several websites, and his writing credits include The Dallas Morning News, Yahoo News, Cinelinx.com and SportsIllustrated.com. He has served as a Dallas County election judge and on the Board of Directors of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas. You can follow him on his blog, VictorMedina.com or on Twitter at @mrvictormedina. He can be reached by email at vic@victormedina.com.